Goodman announces $10 million in endowment funds

At a breakfast event Thursday attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Goodman Theatre said that it had raised $10 million towards the $15-million goal of its new endowment campaign, dubbed "Endowing Excellence: The Campaign for Goodman Theatre."

According to the Goodman, donations in excess of $500,000 include contributions from board member Shawn M. Donnelley, women’s board member Merle Reskin, board member James E. (with Susan) Annable, board chairman Patricia Cox (with her children Katie and Will Hunckler), and the William Owen Goodman and Erna Sawyer Goodman/Kenneth Sawyer Goodman Memorial Theatre Fund.

After praising the Goodman and its role as an economic generator for the Loop, and extolling the audience to "finish the job" of raising the other $5 million, Emanuel also had kind words for the much smaller (and poorer) Gift Theatre in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, where he said he saw the show "Northwest Highway" on Saturday night and declared it to be "superb."